 Matthew chapter 2, we're going to be looking at verses 1 through 12, the messages entitled, Wise Men Still Worship Him. And so let's begin reading together here in Matthew chapter 2 at verse 1. I'll read to verse 12 and we'll get into our study. Matthew chapter 2 beginning at verse 1. Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the King, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem saying, Where is he who has been born, King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him. When Herod the King heard these things, he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. So they said to him in Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet, but you in Bethlehem in the land of Judah are not the least among the rulers of Judah. For out of you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel. Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, Go and search diligently for the young child. And when you have found him, bring back word to me that I may come and worship him also. When they heard the King, they departed and behold, the star which they had seen in the east went before them till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and fell down and worshiped him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to him, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way. And so what I want to do as we look at this passage is I'm going to exhort and do what I normally do as I find certain portions that speak to my heart. I'll do that. But I also want to make sure that you get a lot of information today related to these 12 verses that we're about to look at. You see, as we're looking at Matthew chapter two, Matthew has been establishing the credentials of Messiah. He's been establishing Jesus' credentials. And in chapter one, we noted that he began by giving Jesus' genealogy and then he bolstered that by presenting the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, when he did that, the presentation of the virgin birth of Christ was intended to reveal that Jesus was a descendant of David and fulfilled prophecy. He had said in chapter one, verse 23, Behold a virgin shall be with child and bear a son. They shall call his name Emmanuel, which is translated God with us. That came out of Isaiah, the Old Testament book of Isaiah chapter seven, verse 14. And as I mentioned to you, the Gospel of Matthew contains over 60 scriptures quoted by Matthew presenting Jesus Christ as a fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies concerning Messiah. And so as we enter into chapter two, Matthew continues establishing Jesus' right to the throne of David. Now, we know that according to second Samuel, chapter seven, verses 12 and 13 and verse 16, that God had made a promise to King David that a descendant that came out of his lineage would ascend to the throne. And so that genealogy and virgin birth were presented as proofs of Jesus' claim to being Messiah. Now, Jesus has the right to rule because he is a Jew and he's from the tribe of Judah. By introducing King Herod, Matthew actually makes it clear that Jesus is the legitimate heir and Herod is not. You see, Herod, the king was placed in a position of King Byrom, but was not rightfully the king. Herod was not a Jew. He was what is called an Edomite. He was descended from Esau and that's found in Genesis 36, verse 1. As such, he had no right to the throne, but he had been placed there and therefore desperately held on to the position. So the way that he revealed, the way that he responds reveals how he feels by hearing that someone has been born king when he knew that he did not have legitimacy as one born, but had rather been placed there by Rome. Now, as we look at this, it states after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king. The events that take place occur several months after the actual birth of Jesus Christ. Now, all of us in this room have been basically raised with Christmas songs, Christmas hymns, and so we're looking at the kings, the Magi. Well, actually they're called, we sing a song, we three kings of Orient, right? And so that's taken out of Matthew chapter 2. So let me spend a moment destroying our beliefs that these are three kings. Let me ruin your Christmas if I may. We think, well, these three men came and they brought their gifts. They found Jesus as an infant, presented their gifts. Well, that's not exactly what happened. This took place several months after the birth. There are four ways that we know that. Let me give you these four ways. One, in verse 8, Herod speaks of Jesus as a young child. In the Greek language, there are two different words that are used that you can use to speak concerning those who are young. One speaks of infants and the other would speak of those who are young children, like toddlers, two years of age or so. So the word that is used to describe Jesus in this passage is not infant, it's a word that is used to describe a young child. Secondly, the child is now residing in a house and not in the stable where he was born. Third, according to verse 16, Herod commands children two years old and younger to die. And fourth, Jewish mothers gave a lamb as a purification offering after they had given birth. That was according to the law of Moses found in Leviticus chapter 12 verses 6 through 8. Mary gave an offering according to Luke chapter 2 verses 22 through 24. She gave an offering. But in the Old Testament, the offering that the young mother was to give would be either a lamb or they would give turtle doves or young pigeons, two of them. If they had money, they would give a lamb. If they were poor, they would give the pigeons or the turtle doves. So according to Luke chapter 2 verses 23 through 24, Mary gave an offering made by the poor, which reveals that she had yet to receive the expensive gifts of the magi. The magi gave her gold, frankincense and myrrh actually gave the Lord Jesus gold, frankincense and myrrh. Those are very expensive and thus she could have already sold them. She could have sold them and could have had the money to buy a lamb. She didn't. So that tells us this takes place later on. And so that's one thing. A second thing, notice in verse 1, it speaks concerning wise men. It says wise men came from the east to Jerusalem. Wise men. The word wise men literally is translated magi. That's where we get the term the magi. The word magi is where you get the term magic or magician. And when you look into history concerning these people, you get some idea of who they really were. You see, there are a lot of traditions that have been developed concerning these men. Because of the number of gifts mentioned, some say they were three in number because they had gold, incense and myrrh. So they say there were three of them. Others consider them to be kings and even gave them names. One was Kaspar, the other's Balthazar and the third is Malkior. Well, the fact is those, that's folklore. That's not biblical. We really don't know those things about these men. What we know about magi, though, you can find in history. For example, magi first appeared around 700 before Christ. They were a priestly class. It's possible that they originated in Ur of the Caldees like Abraham, the father of the Jews. We know that magi were skilled in astronomy, agriculture, science, mathematics and history. We know that they practiced astrology, sorcery, as well as the interpretation of dreams. We also know that the magi were the most respected members of the Babylonian and Medo-Persian empires. As far as the religious beliefs, magi were what are called monotheists. They believed in one God, the existence of only one God. So that belief led them to be open to the teachings of the Bible which reveals the one true God. What's also interesting about these magi is a very famous Jew was regarded as the chief of the magi. And his name was Daniel. In Daniel chapter two, verse 48, in the Old Testament book of Daniel, it says Daniel was made chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon. Now Daniel was not into astrology. Daniel was not into the superstition, but he had more wisdom than all the wise men. And he was placed in that position and thus had tremendous influence. And there's no doubt that Daniel influenced the magi concerning the God of Israel and the coming Messiah. It is more than likely that he acquainted them with a prophecy that was made by a man by the name of Balaam that they would have been familiar with. We have that prophecy found in the book of Numbers chapter 24 verse 17 where Balaam said, I see him, but not now. I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob. A scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of the sons of Sheth. A star will come out of Jacob. A scepter, a king, will rise out of Israel. So the magi, more than likely, were waited for a sign of this coming ruler. As students of astronomy, the sign of a star would be highly significant. Now I mentioned that there was astrology in their belief system. Astronomy obviously is not astrology. Astronomy being a science astrology, being a superstitious belief that the stars, moon, and all celestial signs actually portend things concerning your future, etc. And so here's a question for you. I'll throw this out at this moment. It would be important to ask the question, does God approve of and use astrology? And the answer in brief is no. He actually condemns it as worship of creation rather than the Creator. In Romans 125 it says, man exchanged the truth of God for the lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. In Genesis, God commanded man to be fruitful and multiply on the earth. You see that in Genesis 8.17. But instead, the people came to a place called Babylon or Shinar and decided to build a city and a tower there. In Genesis 11.4, it reads, they said, come let us build ourselves a city and a tower whose top is in the heavens. Let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth. What they built was not just a ladder of some sort to heaven. What it was was an astrological tower and it was built for the honor and worship of the sun, moon, and stars. And when they did that, the result was judgment. The people were forcibly scattered. The fact is we have a personal God who intervenes and guides us in a personal way and we seek guidance from him through his written word and the leading of the spirit. And because he is a personal God, he contrasts this with the futility of the worship of creation. To Babylon, he said, in Isaiah 47.13, all the counsel you have received is only warn you out. Let your astrologers come for those star gazers who make predictions month by month. Let them save you from what is coming upon you. God actually challenges them because they have no power, because they worship creation rather than the creator. Now the Magi were acquainted with the Old Testament and they were acquainted with Messianic prophecy. Because of a Jewish presence and influence in Babylon, they would have been aware of these prophecies. These magi would fall into the category and you see this in the New Testament, they refer to in this way as the category of God-farrers. They were not Jews, but they had a sense of reverence for the God of Israel. So in conjunction with an unusual star in the heavens, they made their journey. Now one more thing and then we'll move into some application in just a moment. There's a speculation as to whether this is an actual star, because both the Hebrew and Greek word for star can be used figuratively to represent a great radiance. So there are those who would say, instead of this being a literal star, they would say what was being seen was the glory of God that was leading them. Why would they say that? Well you can see that when the shepherds in the field see the angel of the Lord. In Luke chapter 2 verses 8 and 9, it says, there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields keeping watch over their flocks by night. Behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. So it's possible that what the major were following was not a literal star, but the glory of the Lord as he was guiding them. To them the glory or the shekinah glory of God would be like a star in its brilliance. Now as we rush to verse 2, where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east and have come. I want you to see this with me to worship him. The star did not lead them all the way so they have to inquire where this king is. Nobody at first has any idea. They may have assumed that it was common knowledge. Everyone should know. I want to develop something with you here. Obviously the sign that they had was for the wise men alone and not for everybody. And if you take notes, you might want to note this. All kingdom truth is divinely revealed. All kingdom truth is divinely revealed. What do I mean by that? I've heard people give their testimonies in the past and they say that I was this and I was that and I went and did this and I did that and this is where it was and then I found God. I have a bulletin. God wasn't lost. You were. I was. I was lost. All the way back in the book of Genesis when Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, the Bible says that God searched them out. God is presented throughout Scripture as the searching God. He searches out the lost. The way Jesus said he searches out a lost coin or a lost sheep or a lost son. That God is a searching God. God is the one who searches us out. So it's not as if I was in sin seeking for God. There's none who seeks after God, Paul says in Romans chapter three. We're lost. We're in sin. We're lost completely. What does God have to do? God has to reveal himself to us. If God played cosmic hide and seek, who could find him? So God reveals himself to us. All kingdom truth is revealed by God. I did not search him and find him out in and of my own efforts. God gave the word of God. God gave his spirit. His spirit convicts me of sin righteousness and judgment and I am able to see through the hearing of the truth of who God is and then I receive Christ as my Lord and my Savior. In Matthew chapter 11 verses 25 through 27, we read, at that time Jesus said, I praise you Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned. Reveal them to little children. Yes Father, for this was your good pleasure. All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. And so God was revealing himself, making revelation of himself to these magi. They didn't realize it was God who was awakening them to follow this star. So they come to a palace expecting to find a king there because kings are born in palaces. And so they come to Herod and they say, where is he who's been born king of the Jews? We have seen a star and we have come to worship him. And Herod, as he hears this because he's an Edomite, because he is not a lawful legitimate king over Israel and because he is power hungry, gets greatly concerned over this. But God brought these people to worship. And that's what God does by the way. God draws us to Jesus Christ so that we might worship him. That's what God has called us to do. These men had come to worship the king. They come to a palace to find one. They thought everybody would have the same desire, but they were wrong. Now in verse three, it says, when Herod the king heard these things, he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him. When he gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. So they sent him in Bethlehem of Judea for thus it is written by the prophet. But you Bethlehem in the land of Judah are not the least among the rulers of Judah for out of you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel. And so Herod's response is hostility. He wasn't ready to worship. He had availed hostility. The news that Jesus had been born king troubled him. He wasn't the legitimate king. Now as this is taking place, you need to get this in your mind. I've seen so many times during Christmas, I see three men on camels and there are just three of them coming over the hills and all the sand dunes and that isn't what it was like. These men were bringing expensive gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh. All of those are expensive gifts. These men were dignitaries. These were high level men from a foreign country. They would not travel through the wilderness by themselves or just three men on a camel. They had a contingent of bodyguards with them. They had an entourage and so as they were coming and traveling, they entered into the city and it could have looked like invading troops. So Herod is seeing this wondering what is this all about? They come to the palace. They say we're looking for the king. We come to worship him and the Bible says Herod was greatly troubled and not only was Herod troubled over all of this, but everybody in Jerusalem is troubled with him. He's concerned because here comes what appears to be an armed party. He's not sure what they're there for, but they're telling him that there's a king there that they've come to worship and that is going to cause him great concern. That would have made him feel uneasy, protective of his power. He's 70 years or so of age at that time and now he's concerned. Not only is he concerned, but notice all Jerusalem was concerned also. That's not because they loved him so much. That's because they knew he could do monstrous things. They knew that his agitation could lead to bloodshed. History reveals that Herod was insanely power hungry that he murdered to keep his power. During his reign, he murdered the high priest, Aristotle, by drowning him. He killed his wife, Maryam, as well as her mother and two of his own sons. The people were scared that he would do something brutal. And so what does he do? Now first, we see the wise men respond with worship. Second, we see Herod responds with hostility. And third, we see the religious leaders who respond with indifference. He gathered the chief priests and scribes of the people together. The chief priests would include the high priests and other influential priests. The scribes were what we would refer to today as theologians. They were the religious scholars and they were asked the question. The question is simple. Where is the Christ to be born? Now when the question is asked, where is he to be born? Well, they know exactly. Verse five says, in Bethlehem of Judea, it is written by the prophet, but you Bethlehem in the land of Judah are not the least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel. We know exactly where he's to be born. They quoted Micah 5,2. They supply a biblical answer to the question. Though they know the answer to the question, they have no spiritual interest. So that serves to remind us that knowledge of facts alone will not save us. Without sounding like I'm overly nostalgic, I'm not. I can say this. There are a lot of people today who don't have the kind of knowledge that I had as a child. A lot of young people today who don't have the knowledge I had as a young child because that knowledge has been hidden from them in a variety of ways. What I'm speaking about is the knowledge of who Jesus Christ is. I was part of a secular school. I didn't go to a Christian school. I went to secular school and when I was around seven or eight years old, I was part of the school choir and the school choir put on a performance. The performance was a Christmas performance. And the kids from all the classes in our age group, part of the third grade choir or whatever, would stay after school and we would learn Christmas songs. So we sang away in the manger. We sang Silent Night. We sang those songs. That was part of our common culture in the 50s. That was just common knowledge. That's not quite so anymore, is it? You don't have that anymore. Well, you actually have kids up there singing about Jesus Christ and the birth of Christ. You don't have that anymore. And so what was common knowledge for us is really hidden knowledge. But yet at the same time, there are people today that you might ask them a question. What do you know about Easter? And they'll say, Easter, well, isn't that Easter eggs and rabbits? And but isn't that supposed to be Jesus' resurrection? I mean, Americans still answer. Isn't that something to do with Jesus who some say was dead and yet he came to life? What is Christmas? Well, Christmas is when we have a lot of fun. We go to my grandma's house. We get drunk and fight. No, but what is Christmas? What is Christmas supposed to be? Oh, you know, we go to church. As a family, we go to church. Why? Because it's a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. And so people have that knowledge. They have that knowledge. They can speak about that just the way that these indifferent priests were able. And they were religious people, by the way. These indifferent priests were able to say Micah chapter five verse two. Thus it is written in Bethlehem of Judah because it says this in Scripture. It doesn't matter if you know it, it matters if you apply it. See, so the wise men came to worship. Herod's response is hostility and the religious leaders indifference. Doesn't really matter. It's very important for us to realize that knowing facts does not automatically save us. We act on those things that we know. Now it says in verse seven, Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, go and search diligently for the young child. And when you have found him, bring back word to me that I may come and worship him also. When they heard the king, they departed and behold, the star which they had seen in the east went before them till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and fell down and worshiped him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to him, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Then being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way. He was more concerned, notice in verse seven, Herod was more concerned about the time of the birth and not its importance because he wants to protect his power. The time of its appearing would help him to gauge the approximate age of this baby that had been born, and he was able to do that. It says in verse eight that he sent them to Bethlehem. He said, search diligently and then bring back word. He says, I just want to report because I want to come and worship also. So we know that Herod's promise of worship was a plan for murdering the lawful king. Now, they departed, but not only did they depart because the king had given them that direction, but God also gave them directions through the star and the glory that was there, and they found Jesus Christ. Now I want you to notice with me as we're about to roll into a conclusion. Notice verses 10 and 11. It says they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. Their quest was completed. They were able to come and listen, they were able to worship the king. Worshiping, Jesus produces joy, a joy that the world cannot give. Now, as they're worshiping and able to give him the worship that they desire, notice with me, they're not in a stable. Joseph and Mary are in a house. The small city must have been filled with excitement and energy as this contingent arrives. The magi enter the house. Immediately they fell down before Jesus and they worshiped him. The word worship there means a fall upon the knees, touch the ground with a forehead in profound reverence. And so they bring their gifts, but they worship him first. Somebody asked the question, are you supposed to worship Jesus Christ? I thought you're supposed to only worship God. And why would you worship Jesus? Aren't you supposed to just worship God? If you speak to a Jehovah's Witness, a Jehovah's Witness will say that to you. You're not to worship Jesus Christ. You're supposed to worship God alone. Well, that's because Jehovah's Witnesses don't believe that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. And that's because they don't know John chapter 5 verse 23, where Jesus says there, all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. So Jesus said, if you're going to honor the Father, you honor the Son even as you honor him. Now true worship always results in giving to Christ, because true worship is an expression of the heart. A heart that is filled with worship for God always finds a way of expressing itself. And when you see this heart of worship, they said we have come to worship. You'll notice that they sought him, they acted upon his word. They came to him and they gave of their substance to him. They presented their gifts to him, not to Joseph and not to Mary, because offerings are always made to God. Notice they gave gold. Gold is a gift for a king, but it was also usable for them when they fled to Egypt to avoid Herod. They gave frankincense, which was very costly. It was used for special occasions. Frankincense is a gift for a priest. They gave myrrh. Myrrh is a perfume that was normally used for burials. They gave a gift for a savior. Giving is not a way for God to raise money. Giving is a way for God to raise children. And it reveals that we know his grace and understand that he gave first when we give back to him. Now in verse 12, they're warned by God in a dream and they go home by another way. In the first two chapters of Matthew, God uses dreams to communicate five times. Now one last thing. Their gifts to Jesus enabled him to make his escape to Egypt and survive. Our gifts enabled him to continue to perform his work today. And what's interesting is the men who have come to be known as the wise men are the first people in the New Testament who actually are said to have worshiped Jesus. And wise men still worship him.